leader in the diagnosis and
treatment of auditory processing disorders has joined the faculty of
the communication sciences department as director of auditory
research.

Frank Musiek (pronounced "music") has been at Dartmouth
for the past 23 years, where he was a professor of otolaryngology in
the Department of Surgery, a professor of neurology in the Department
of Medicine at the Dartmouth Medical School, and director of
audiology at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon,
N.H.

"Frank Musiek will give the University and the Department of
Communication Sciences national and inter- national visibility in the
field of audiology," says Harvey Gilbert, chair of the
communication sciences department. "He is well known for his
research in diagnostic audiology and auditory processing. He will
help us strengthen our Ph.D. program in audiology, and help us
develop a new degree, the clinical doctorate in audiology."

The clinical doctorate - or Au.D. - degree is being developed to
prepare for the new national standards that will take effect in 2012,
when the doctorate will be the minimum requirement for those who want
to be audiologists and work in the field, Gilbert says. The Ph.D.
degree in audiology is a research degree.

Gilbert says having Musiek on board will give a significant boost
to the audiology department, which previously had three faculty
members but lost two full professors to retirement this year.

Musiek examines how disorders of the brain affect hearing, and
develops diagnostic auditory tests for people whose hearing problems
are related not so much to the ear as to the brain.

He has spent more than two decades trying to unravel the mystery
of central auditory processing disorder - an auditory version of
dyslexia that until recently has been given little attention. Those
who have the disorder typically have normal hearing, but can't
make sense of what they hear, Musiek says: "It is hard for them
to distinguished foreground signals from background noise."

This is particularly problematic for children in the classroom
when teachers use complex language, speak rapidly, or present lengthy
information. A child who is fidgeting, appears distracted, and is not
following a teacher's instructions may have CAPD, which affects
about 3 percent of school-age children, Musiek says.

CAPD is frequently misdiagnosed as attention-deficit/
hyperactivity disorder, because the two disorders share common
symptoms: difficulty in paying attention and following directions,
hyperactivity, and distraction.

CAPD may be caused by brain lesions, traumatic brain injury, a
history of chronic ear infections, learning disabilities, delay in
maturing, and, in older adults, neurological changes due to
aging.

Musiek will teach several graduate courses, but will spend a
considerable amount of his time conducting research. "Developing
new and better tests to diagnose auditory processing disorder is an
ongoing challenge," he says. "These tests are very
sophisticated. " He will also continue to develop new auditory
training exercises and learning strategies to help combat the
disorder.

While it will take a few months to get his lab ready, Musiek says
his future plans include working with Connecticut schools and
children at risk for CAPD. He'll also be involved with starting
up the Au.D. program.

Musiek has received many awards. He has been elected a fellow of
the American Speech and Hearing Association and received the
Editor's Award for a series of articles on neuroanatomy,
neurophysiology, and central auditory assessment published in the
journal Ear and Hearing. Musiek is the Hitchcock Foundation Henry
Heyl Award winner for excellence in clinical research and was
selected as the Case Western Reserve 50th Anniversary Lecturer in
Communication Disorders.

Musiek received his bachelor's degree from Edinboro University
in Pennsylvania, his master's in audiology from Kent State, and
his Ph.D. in audiology and neurophysiology from Case Western Reserve
University.

He has published more than 140 articles and/or book chapters in
audiology and related fields and has co-authored several books in the
field.